Unwritten Rules
by sarahkwin
Summary: Hotch has to make the decision to go against the unwrriten rules of friendship after aiding a distressed colleague. Post 'Retailiation' 5x12 Rated T for language. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**Love until it hurts. Real love is always painful and hurts; then it is real and pure.**

**Mother Theresa**

***~***

"BEEP, BEEP, BEEP—BEEP, BEEP, BEEP—BEE-"

"Gahhh." Emily Prentiss groaned, after being rudely awakened by her alarm clock. She did what she did every morning; hit the snooze but and went back to sleep.

She rolled over and tried to grasp the last little bits of an ending dream. Someone tall, dark and handsome reaching for her. She was reaching back up to him; a person's face she didn't quite recognize. They're fingers almost touching....

"BEEP, BEEP, B—"

"Okay, Okay!" She cried, forcing herself up and turning the damn thing off. She never felt rested anymore. Emily stretched her arms to the side, wincing as her muscles protested the treatment. They were still incredibly sore from getting hit by a truck. Although worse damage could have been done, she contemplated. She had no lasting damage other than a concussion and sore body. She could have been Bunting...

Emily shook her head sharply to erase those thoughts. They would do her no good. She really couldn't have done anything to save him. Schrader had made sure of that.

Forcing those thoughts out of her mind again she concentrated on getting dressed. Perhaps her body would feel better after a nice jog. Just a nice and easy jog around Capitol Hill. Then a hot shower. Then coffee. Screw that, she'd drink her coffee on her jog.

Emily threw her hair up in a messy ponytail grabbed her sneakers and hit the pavement. She started off slow, working her body back into its natural rhythm. Running was when she did her best thinking. And since the accident she had been too sore to even think of attempting. But today her body was holding up. _Good_, she thought. Now she could put this whole mess behind her.

Instead of beating herself up about Bunting, she turned back to the wisps of the dream she had, had. She had always dreamed of a mysterious someone just within her reach. Sometimes his face was clear, pictured as John, or Mark Cooper, or anyone of the numerous guys she had 'fallen' in love with. In between men it reverted back to this strange gorgeous someone, whom she felt was familiar. Lately this dream had been cropping more and more instead of nightmares. And she wasn't complaining. She just wanted to know who she was dreaming about. It must be _someone_ she had seen before....

"Oh well." She said to herself, shrugging it off as irrelevant. She'd meet her someone special someday. Hopefully someday soon. She was almost forty after all. Not that it mattered. But she felt as though she was ready to settle down. Possibly get married. Or not. She didn't need to be married, contrary to her mother's ideals.

Emily knew not to push her body too hard and ended her run earlier then she would have liked. It was still early morning, plenty of time to have a long hot shower and catch up on some news. She bounced up her stairs, feeling more invigorated and happy then normal and striped off all her sweaty clothes.

She busied herself in her bathroom, letting the shower really steam up and brushed her teeth. She was looking forward going back into work today. Hotch and Morgan had made the smooth transition of trading places once again, and things were getting back to normal. Normal for her. She doubted Hotch's life would be normal ever again. Not after losing a his highschool sweetheart and being left alone with a four year old. Emily did not envy him in anyway. Her respect shot up through the roof, and she made every offer to help him out. It was the least she could do. He was family; and she knew he would be there if she ever needed him. They had each other's backs.

She stepped in the shower and let the hot water smooth her back muscles. She was glad the team was back together in their proper places. Not that she had minded Morgan being the team leader. He did well, and would do well thereafter. But the team hadn't been the same.

"Oops." She said out loud after missing half her hand while she was trying to coax shampoo out of its bottle. She had always been terrible clumsy.

It happened so fast she didn't even have time to grab a hold of the curtain to break some of her fall. Her foot twisted out from under her, her body fell backwards and she crumpled to the bottom of the floor. Her head smacked the wall with so much force it knocked her unconscious.

***~***

The first thing Emily felt was water in her mouth. Her first thought was that she was drowning! She instinctively flailed her arms and legs out only to be gripped with such relentless pain that she thought she was dying. Through the pain she realized she could just spit the water out and she wasn't actually drowning.

She opened her eyes to see herself lying on the tub floor, skin very red from the incredibly hot water raining down on her. What had happened? The most logical explanation was that she had slipped and fell. _No shit Sherlock_, she thought, grimacing. Her entire body was on fire. Everywhere from her head to her feet.

Emily coughed out some more water. Thank god she had fallen face up instead of face down or she could have actually drowned. Even coughing sent sharp pains through her torso. _What have I broken now_? She mused. _Just when things were getting good too_. Emily moved her one good arm to lift herself up. No, no, no....she cried her head when it was too painful. She tried assessing her situation.

She already knew her left shoulder was dislocated. She couldn't use that arm at all. And she probably had another concussion from the pounding headache. Her neck seemed fine but stiff. Her right arm she used to shut off the shower head and turn off the water. _Possible broken rib or ribs_? She thought. Her chest ached tremendously. Her legs seemed to be sore but in working condition. And she had a twisted, possibly sprained, possibly broken ankle. She couldn't tell as it was already swollen and bruised. Her chest was bruised. Damn, her body was bruised.

She did the only she could do at the moment. Curse. Her voice was in perfect working order except for the occasional 'ahh!' or 'oowww'.

Emily tried raising herself again. It was still very painful, but she managed to sit up. Now what she needed was her cellphone. To call for help. But her body did not want to move and get out of the tub.

"Damn you." She cursed, her previously happy mood completely forgotten. How was she going to get out of here? There was no way she could even get up on her knees and crawl out. She was already ready to pass out from the pain.

"Come......on......you......damn.....towel." She scooted her body over inch by inch. If she was getting help _she did not want them to see her naked_!

"Finally!" She breathed as her towel fell off its hanger into a more reachable position. Oh god she hurt. Emily struggled to wrap it around herself. Moving her shoulder every little bit killed.

Now that she had a towel, how was she going to get out of here? She couldn't lift herself with one good leg and stand up without pain. And she didn't think she could push through it. She would pass out and land on the floor, creating more potential harm.

_Well I can't wait for anyone to rescue me_, she deliberated. _I should at least try._ She got her leg up, ready to push herself up with the wall of the tub, only to realize that required putting pressure on her back. Which hurt like hell.

"Damnit!" She cursed again, going back to her original position.

"Help!" She cried loudly. _Well no one likely heard that_, she thought. She'd have to scream. Her neighbours should wake up and investigate.

"HELP ME! HELP! Ah!" She cried afterwards. That hurt as well. But she had to continue.

After a few minutes, of what she felt pointless screaming, no one came. She listened carefully for footsteps, knocking on her door. Nothing. Zilch. Zip. "Fucking neighbours." She swore.

"SOMEONE PLEASE COME AND HELP ME! I CAN'T GET UP!" She tried. Still nothing. If she kept screaming like this she'd quickly lose her voice. And then be all alone. Who would find her? Surely someone from the team would wonder where she was. They would look for her eventually. In the afternoon probably. She didn't want to wait that long.

"HELP! PLEASE!" She screamed every few minutes. She was beginning to get very frustrated that no one was investigating why someone was screaming in an apartment. Surely someone would have complained. They couldn't have all left.

Emily didn't even know what time it was. She did not know how long she had been passed out. Probably not to, to long as the water was still hot. She had spent at least twenty minutes, or a half hour laying here, screaming her head off. She guessed it wasn't even 8:30 yet. But she did not want to spend a few hours laying here, suffering in pain. It was enough to make her lip quiver. Only quiver. She refused to cry in this situation. Someone would come. Eventually.

This time she just screamed. It really hurt her back, and left her breathless. Maybe that would send someone running.

"E-fmhy?" Her breath stopped as she swore she heard something downstairs.

"SOMEONE HELP ME!" She yelled again.

Then she heard a satisfying BANG. She was saved! She heard whoever it was stomp up her stairs.

"E-FMH-LY?" She heard again. She couldn't pinpoint the person but they definitely knew her. Likely the doorman.

"In here!" She called, wrapping the towel tighter around her. She felt so relieved. Until _he_ walked into her bathroom. She saw the polished shoes, dark suit, pale concerned face, dark hair.

_Oh god._

"Hi." She said weakly to her boss.

Aaron Hotchner's face was priceless. And speechless. "What's wrong? What happened? What's going on?" He shot off after a moment too long of just staring at her.

She took another deep breath. "I slipped and fell. I think I dislocated my shoulder, among other things. I can't get up." Emily told him.

He approached the tub and knelt down to examine her injuries. "Emily, where is the blood coming from?"

"Blood?" She asked confused. She hadn't noticed any blood...

"Do...you mind?" Hotch asked, asking permission to touch her head.

"Sure."

Emily winced as he touched a spot. "It's just a cut...it's not deep...probably superficial. Where else?" He leaned back and she saw his fingertips bloodied. It gave her a very surreal feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her bottom lip quivered again.

"Um...well my back, my ribs. Oh and my ankle." She jerked her head towards her foot. "But don't touch it. It really hurts." She said as he went to inspect it.

"What are you doing here?" She suddenly asked. Hotch had obviously come by her apartment for something. That was strange of him. Lucky for her he had, or who knows how long she would have waited.

"It was nothing important. Do you want me to call an ambulance?" He looked her in the eye.

"No, no, no." She did not want an ambulance coming and making a big scene. "Can you just drive me to the hospital please?"

She watched him have an internal debate. Finally he agreed. "Um...how should I lift you up?"

"Oh." Emily blushed furiously. "It's just; my towel...isn't quite secure. I only have one arm..." She trailed off. He didn't seem to be affected.

"That's alright. Tell me if it hurts." He crouched down, slipped an arm around her back and her knees and carefully tried to lift her. Emily bit her lower lip and buried her face in a hand. She was not going to cry out now. _Not in her bosses arms!_

By the time he set her down on her bed she had tears streaming down her face. Emily tried desperately to hide them, wiping them away immediately.

"Are you ok?" Hotch asked her honestly, bending down to be at her eye level.

"Yup." She lied, breathless. "You probably don't want to go in that towel..." He looked over her again.

"Yeah. Umm. There should be like some pants in the second drawer and just grab a t-shirt."

"Anything else?"

"No. I guess I'm not going to work today. Haha. Ow." She hissed.

"No Prentiss, you might be out for a while." He dug through her clothes and took out a pair of yoga pants and a blue t-shirt.

"Sorry." She felt the need to blurt out. "Why?" He asked, handing her the T-shirt. It felt so surreal to be sitting naked on her bed wrapped in a towel facing her boss. She would never live this down.

"Just...that you have to be in this situation...helping me. It's weird that's all." Emily finished lamely, fiddling with a loose string from the clothes in her lap. She couldn't even look him in the face.

"Don't be sorry at all. It was an accident. Emily, really. It's no trouble."

She shrugged and attempted to dress herself. There was no way she could do that by herself.

"Do you want me to turn around or something?" He offered.

"No." She said in a small voice, trying not to let her frustrations out. "Can you just?—thanks."

Hotch helped her get the yoga pants on. Emily could feel his fingertips brush her skin and it sent all kinds of goosebumps on her skin. When was the last time she had been touched by a man? _No! Don't think of that now_! She mentally slapped herself.

"Here." He looped a t-shirt sleeve onto her useless arm and helped her into it. Finally she was able to remove the wet towel and be at least somewhat clothed.

"Thanks." She said gratefully. "What are you doing here anyways?" She asked. He gave her an amused look.

"You already asked me that. And I just happened to be in the neighbourhood. It's nothing important."

"You heard me from outside?"

"No. Emily, do you need like socks and shoes?" He changed the subject.

"Yeah, I have sneakers downstairs. And I'll need my purse. And my cellphone wherever that unhelpful damn thing is." She grumbled.

"Wait here." Hotch left to gather the things she wanted. While he was gone she tried to do something with her wet, messy and apparently bloody hair. She was cursing at it and trying not to let it bother her when he came back.

"What's the matter?" He asked.

"Nothing. My hair. I can't put it up." She wiped the blood from her hair on the wet towel. Hotch grabbed a hair elastic from her dresser and offered to do it for her.

"I'm not very good at this." He told her, taking a hold of her wet hair and tying it up. He placed her sneakers and purse in her lap.

"Ready?" He asked. Emily nodded. She knew it would be painful any which way. She bite her lip again as he lifted her up and exited her bedroom. This time her right arm was wrapped around his shoulders and she gripped them firmly. Harshly. But he didn't show any discomfort.

"Ow! Careful!" She hissed after her damaged foot almost hit an edge.

"Sorry." He said. "You don't need a coat right?"

"No. I'll be fine. Thanks."

She felt him struggle to open the door with one hand. Finally he got it open and he carried her through the brightly lit hallway. In such harsh light she reflected on how strange this situation was. Her boss was her knight in shining armour at this point. While she was embarrassed, she was even more grateful. She would much rather Hotch then the old grisly doorman.

***~***

**Back again! Please read and review (and most importantly enjoy). **

**This is just a short fic, however if there is demand for a longer exploration then I'll give it a go. If not, I will update the second part in a few days. **

**See disclaimer on my profile to what I own (which is nothing as we all know). **

**~Lemony~**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I should say I have no medical expertise whatsoever. Just roll with it ;-)**

***~***

**The decision to kiss for the first time is the most crucial in any love stroy. It changed the relationship of two people much more strongly then even the final surrender because this kiss alreadt has within it that surrender.**

**Emil Ludwig**

***~***

Aaron Hotchner glanced through the forms one last time. The hospital had taken Emily in almost immediately, and while she waited in pain, he had offered to fill out her forms. He knew _almost_ everything. He walked back to her emergency room.

"How did this happen exactly again? You slipped?" Hotch asked. He would need this information for his accident report, even if it didn't happened at work. She would still need leave.

"Yeah. I was taking a shower and my foot twisted. I hit my head and when I woke up I was in a lot of pain." She said groggily. A nurse had just inserted an IV and given her a shot of morphine. They were told it would still take some time to kick in.

"What time would you say that was around?" He questioned.

"I dunno. I got home around almost at 7. Like 5 minutes after that?" She answered softly.

"Do you have any idea how long you were out for?"

"No."

"Who do you want as next of kin? Your mother? Father?"

"Sure."

"Who?"

"What?"

"Emily! Pay attention." He chided gently. "And stay awake." Hotch reminded her. Under no condition was she to fall asleep.

"Humph." Was her answer. He continued filling out the forms with her mother's contact information. He also added himself as a contact. He was her superior and responsible for her. _Not every hour of the day_, a sarcastic voice said in his head. Hotch ignored it.

He heard Emily shift her position again, hiss in pain and settle back down. She did that every few minutes.

"What were you doing at my apartment anyway?" She asked him again, for the thousandth time. She was looking at him directly, more focused then she had been all morning. The morphine must have been kicking in.

Hotch had tried brushing it off, but she only asked again. And again. "It's no longer important. Read this." He held the forms up to her so she could double check them. Emily was distracted enough to forget her question. She'd ask it again in about an hour or so.

The emergency room Doctor arrived, examined her shoulder, and promptly starting telling a joke about a mental patient and a psychiatrist. Hotch found it funny enough, but predictable. He could have come up with it himself if he wanted to. But Emily gave an appreciative laugh in her morphine-induced state.

"OW!" She cried in mid laugh. The doctor has re-located her shoulder so fast, her cry made Hotch jump.

"There. I don't think any permanent damage was caused. I'll send you for some x-rays, for your shoulder, torso and ankle. We'll determine if anything's broken." The Doctor announced.

"That hurt!" Emily snapped viciously, rubbing her arm and grimacing. The doctor put her arm in a sling.

"No it didn't. You felt the pop, yes, but no pain. Good day. You can go down to X-ray now." He left as fast as he had come.

"Asshole." Emily cursed after he left.

"How do you feel now?" Hotch asked concerned.

"Pissed." She grumbled. She started to flex her fingers and wrist. Hotch chuckled appreciatively this time. "Come on, the faster we get down this over with the faster I can leave." She said.

Hotch left to find a wheelchair for her. She still had a possible broken ankle. And with a sore shoulder she probably wouldn't do well with crutches. _And Reid just got rid of his crutches_, he thought to himself. His team was in rough shape. Rossi was the only member to remain unscathed in some way. Garcia had been shot, Reid had been shot, Morgan had been thrown through a window, JJ hit with a shovel, Emily hit by a truck and he himself had been attacked in his own home, his wife murdered and his son traumatized. He needed to keep a better eye on everyone. Lately he realized his team had been too close to the cases. Being too close got them hurt. And he could not bear any team member injured, or lost. Not now.

Hotch thought these thoughts as he wheeled Emily down the corridor. She was saying something not very important, jumbled and somewhat unfollow-able. Morphine did that to you.

They made it down to x-rays and Hotch had to stand outside in the hall. In some ways it was really lucky that Emily injured herself this way. It certainly solved all his problems at the moment. All morning he had been stressing over Strauss' latest assault on his team. As subtle as that woman could be, she was a force to be reckoned with. While he instinctively knew Emily would not want to leave the team, re-assignments were non-negotiable. And Strauss had enough power to make it permanent.

"Hellooo?" Hotch heard Emily call from behind the door. "A little help here?" He entered the x-ray room to find Emily struggling to get off the table. He dashed to catch her before she fell, again.

"Can't you wait a bit?" He asked.

"I hate x-rays." Emily simply said. Her eyes were buggy and she was feeling no pain. It was an amusing sight.

"Why?"

"Oh, I don't know. Just do. Same way I hate pickle ice cream. They just don't belong together."

They waited in the hall to get the results back. "How's Jack?" Emily asked, keeping up the conversation.

"He's doing alright. He misses his mom, a lot. Jessica, who was my sister in law, helps us out a lot."

"How old is he again?"

"He's four."

"And who's watching him now?"

"Jessica."

"You're lucky." She stated out of the blue.

"How so?" His stomach twisted like it always did when he discussed Hayley and Jack. He wasn't quite over what happened to them. Those images would always be burned behind his eyes.

"You have...someone to love...and someone who will always love you. That's pretty lucky." She sighed heavily.

"What's the matter?" He asked at her sudden change in demeanour. Before she had been happy and bubbly.

"Ribs hurt." Before he could ask her what she meant about love, the same ER doctor arrived and brought out three x-ray sheets.

"You didn't break anything." He told them. "Just sprained your ankle. We'll wrap that and set you up with some crutches. Try and stay off of it for two weeks or so. You bruised two ribs, but there's nothing I can do for that just prescribe some painkillers and tell you to rest in bed for a few days. How's that sound?"

"Great. Thanks doctor." Hotch said, shaking his hand and taking the prescription.

"Doc, can I go back to work tomorrow?" Emily asked, blearily eyed.

"How bout in a week?" The doctor stated and left them.

"A week? All by myself? That's crap." Emily cursed moodily. Hotch took her back up to the emergency room to get her ankle wrapped and painkillers prescribed.

"Do you want another shot of Morphine? Yours seems to be wearing off." A nurse asked Emily before they left.

"Sure. I'm not doing anything today." She shrugged signing off on insurance papers.

Once back in his car, Emily sat staring at the window. He waited twenty minutes, so that she was way in the throes of happiness, to tell her.

"Strauss wants you put on another team."

"Why?"

"Because of your linguistics skills. It's only for one case, a long one, but if you did well there she might have made it permanent."

"Oh. Might have? I'm not being re-asseen? Assign. Assigned." She mumbled.

"No. You're injured and out for three weeks."

"Three weeks? Didn't the doc say one week? I was sure he said one week."

"No, he said three. You're to stay off your ankle for two weeks and one more for rest. Weren't you listening?" He lied smoothly. Three weeks was long enough to be a pain in Strauss' side and she wouldn't be able to use Emily. Lucky the doctor hadn't written it down.

"What am I going to do for three weeks?" Emily complained.

"I'm sure we'll come up with something." He reassured her.

***~***

Getting her back up to her apartment wasn't as pain filled as the morning. He simply had to roll her down the hall.

"Do you know what I'm going to do?" She asked suddenly.

"What?"

"I'm going to rent every movie on my satellite and watch them. I haven't had time to watch a movie in ages."

"I've got tons of Disney movies at home. I can't even remember the last movie I watched." He said as they arrived to her door.

He opened the door and wheeled her in. The hospital had given her a wheelchair to use just for a couple days until her shoulder healed. It beat having to carry her. Hotch prided himself on being a strong man, but he wasn't in his twenties anymore.

"Where do you want to be? Down here or upstairs?" He asked her. No use setting her on the couch if he had to move her later. _Why do you have to be the one to take care of her?_ The tiny voice in his head asked.

_Because that's what friends do_. He answered the tiny annoying voice.

_Two months ago you would have just called paramedics and let someone else handle her_.

_That's not true._

_Oh yes it is. Call her parents and let them take care of it. Go back to work, where you belong. _

Hotch coughed loudly as if that could squash the tiny voice. He was going to be a friend to Emily, because she was one of the limited people he had. Plus, she had found him after Foyet attacked him, and had helped a lot.

_Driving you to work isn't the same thing. _

He coughed again. "Are you ok?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. Here." He lifted her up from the wheelchair and climbed the stairs. He had to remind himself the only reason why she was so relaxed and her body melded into his was the morphine. Her head rested comfortably on his shoulders and all he could smell was her hair. He found he really, really liked the smell and breathing in the scent of her. It felt....soothing.

He set her down on her bed and she quickly got under the covers, shivering from the cold. No wonder in the flimsy t-shirt she was wearing.

"Do you need anything? Food, water? Another blanket?" He asked.

"Hmm. Food sounds good. Yeah, I guess I'm hungry." The rumbling of her stomach agreed with her.

"I'll be right back." He said, going in search of food.

The last time he had been in her kitchen, he had been asking her to stay on the team as well. And she had gotten a concussion the next day.

"Wow." He said out loud as his remembered. He had been impressed with her so much that she hadn't ratted him out to Strauss. She was fully part of the team after that. He would do almost anything to keep her there.

Emily Prentiss had little in the way of actual food. And Hotch was not the best cook. He could make just enough to survive on his own with Jack. Snacks and Jessica were blessings in disguise.

Hotch checked the microwave clock and was astounded that it was 4 o'clock in the afternoon. He whipped out his phone and called Rossi. He had missed so much today.

"Hey-lo." Rossi answered.

"Hi." Hotch didn't know quite what to say. He had never in his life ignored any workplace responsibility. Hayley had been quick to remind him of that. And thinking of Hayley was like a knife in his gut.

"Well hello stranger. Nice of you to call." Rossi scolded.

"I know, I'm sorry. But Emily was in an accident."

"What happened?"

"She fell in the shower, but she'll be fine. Just a sprained ankle, dislocated shoulder. She'll be out for a few weeks."

"And that's fine? Wait—how did you know all this?"

"Ah...she called me." He cursed his hesitation. David Rossi was a pro at profiling. He was like a bloodhound.

"Okaay." Hotch could just see the smirking face on him.

"Anyway, did I miss anything important?"

"Everything we do here is important Aaron."

Hotch resisted the urge to growl into the phone. Rossi could be so damn obnoxious when he wanted to be. And he enjoyed awkward situations.

"Did any cases come up I should be aware of?"

"No, it was your lucky day. It's been quiet since Lockport." _My lucky day indeed_, Hotch thought.

"Okay. Thanks. I'll be later this evening." Hotch hung up and started mentally tallying all the paperwork that needed to be in before Friday. Since coming back to the BAU and being a single father he had spent an entire night working out a schedule so that he could be available for his son and still get everything done. He had figured one out but it left little room for personal time.

_Like spending an entire day with Emily Prentiss. _

He called Jessica to tell her he'd be running late while opening up a few more cupboards. Nothing was ready made or easy to make. He didn't want to go back empty handed so he poured her a glass of water.

"I said I was hungry not thirsty." Emily said once he came back up. She was propped up with some pillows and flipping through channels on the television in her bedroom.

"It would help if you had food I could make." She gave him a quizzical look. "How about we order something?" He said. He was hungry to, and it wouldn't hurt to eat together.

"Oh! Chinese. Wait—no. Pizza. Oh but a new Thai place opened up on Pennsylvania street. Or that Sushi place near—"

"Chinese or Pizza?" He narrowed down her choices. He disliked Thai and Sushi, and he was pretty sure she wouldn't like something so exotic in her current state of body, and mind.

"Pizza. No. Chinese. No—."

"Oh no, you said Pizza first." He laughed, really laughed, at her. High-Emily was so different from the one he worked with. There weren't as many shields and masks in place. Normal Emily knew exactly what she wanted when she wanted it. This Emily was very amusing. She didn't care about anything.

Even her lop-sided grin was beautiful, with her big brown eyes illuminated. He could get lost in them....

_I bet you could. _Hotch coughed again and immediately stopped laughing. He looked away from her and concentrated on ordering a pizza.

"Pepperoni...with cheese..." It was hard to concentrate with Emily tapping his arm. 'What?' He mouthed.

"Get extra cheese. And garlic fingers. With extra cheese."

He nodded and relayed that back to the likely pimple-faced teenager and had it delivered.

"Sit back down." Emily ordered after he got off the phone. She patted the spot beside her. On her bed.

"Come on." She urged, smiling brightly. It tugged his heart. _I really shouldn't be doing this_, he thought but he did it anyway. He sat stiffly beside her and turned his eyes to the television.

"Relax." She gripped his bicep, pushing him sideways a bit. "It's not like I'm going to bite you." She laughed.

"I know." It wasn't that she wasn't going to bite him. It was that he was here, with her, enjoying himself way too much. It didn't stop him from nudging her back.

"Ow." She said. He reached out and touched her.

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you."

Emily laughed. "Gotcha." She laughed harder. She leaned far over the edge and nearly toppled off the bed if he hadn't of grabbed her in time. She was still laughing but somehow she ended up hugging him.

"Would you stop falling all over the place? You're going to give me a heart attack." He chided, hand unconsciously running through her hair. She pulled back just a tiny bit, and then BAM, he was kissing her.

He didn't know why he did it. The male part of his brain was telling him to just do it. Kissing her felt like melting, watching a sunset or listening to his son's first words. Jack, his son. Hotch felt like ice cold water had just washed over him.

What was he doing!?!

He pulled back abruptly and released her. Emily Prentiss was his colleague. No, his subordinate. She was on his team. He should not be kissing her. Even if he wanted to.

"Sorry." He mumbled, trying not to blush furiously.

"Ohh." Was all she said. Her eyes were no longer shining, but wary.

"I don't know where that came from." He admitted. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand. He could still taste the kiss.

"I should go." He announced getting up to leave.

"No, don't go. Pizza is still coming." Her voice was strange, small and hopeful?

Hotch debated with himself. On the one hand, he didn't want to leave Emily alone. Just in case something happened. On the other, he had just kissed her out of the fricking blue. No amount of logic could settle that.

"I shouldn't." He told her.

"Why not?" How to answer that question? Did she want him to stay? Was she having these, mystical and out of nowhere feelings. He knew he wasn't 'in love' with Emily Prentiss and had never considered having a relationship other then professional until now.

"You can't leave yet." She said after he didn't say anything. "Someone has to be there to answer the door and pay the delivery guy. I can't go down the stairs. And then food will be here. Don't go yet..." She trailed off.

She made a reasonable argument. "I'll call Garcia and I'm sure she'll stay with you tonight." There. That was settled.

They sat and stood in silence. Emily twiddled the remote in her hand while Hotch shifted leg to leg.

"I am really sorry for that. I didn't mean it. It was a mistake" He stated.

"Sure. I get it. No need to explain." She said, not looking at him.

"I have a son. I know you know that, but Jack's going to have a real hard time without his mother. I just buried Hayley not even a few months ago. And we work together. It would upset everyone involved. Jack, the team. I'm your boss; I'm supposed to be the responsible one. And I don't have time for anyone else but Jack. And it wouldn't be fair to you. If something were to happen, I wouldn't want to risk losing your friendship, or our jobs. You've put a lot of good effort into the team. I don't want to lose you to my mistakes." How were these words leaving his mouth? He felt an uncharacteristic need to tell her all the thoughts running through his head of why he couldn't be in a relationship.

_Um...she didn't ask you to be in one. You kissed her, remember?_

He mentally kicked himself. He scratched his head and tried to inconspicuously observe her reaction.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" She asked what he was asking himself.

_If you're going to tell her the truth you might as well be honest. _

"I'm hoping there's a good chance you're not going to remember any of this."

"Oh." She tilted her head in a way that made her look even prettier. "Then why did you stop?"

"Stop what?"

"Kissing me?"

Her doorbell rang, valiantly saving the day. Hotch rushed down to get away from this situation. When he came back upstairs, Emily had ordered 'Night at the Museum'.

"This is such a good movie." She said, taking her plateful of pepperoni pizza. Hotch was slightly confused. Were they done talking?

"Yeah. Jack likes it." He said.

"So three weeks off from work?" She continued.

"Yes."

"Awesome. Nothing like a vacation in bed." She turned up the volume and settled into the pillow.

"Aren't you going to eat? I can't finish the whole thing by myself." She commented after her second slice. His plate had grown cold. He ate it anyways.

They apparently were done talking about it. Emily continued like it had never happened. Hotch wished it didn't.

He also wished she was too hopped up on morphine to remember.

***~***

**A/N 2: If Emily seems out of character, remember drugs to wicked things. I tried my best to keep her in as much character as possible. This isn't beta'd by anyone, so if she felt a little off, that's why. Please let me know if I'm getting Hotch right as well. Constructive criticism/suggestions is always welcomed, but be nice please :-D. **

**This originally was going to be two parts, but I got a lot fo great feedback (Thank you to all who reviewed!!! You made my week!) so I've decided to continue it a bit further. I know there wasn't a lot of action this chapter, but next one will pick up. Again, thank you to all who reviewed. You are awesome. **

**Don't forget to review this time**

**~Lemony~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Partial truths or half-truths are often more insidious than total falsehoods.**

**Samuel P. Huntington**

***~***

_Three weeks later,_

Hotch was preparing for the day's work when he saw Emily come into the bullpen. It was her first day back and he already knew they'd have a case. JJ had told him about it the evening before. It would be a dozy. He was half tempted to request she stay behind with Garcia but that wouldn't go over well. Just a week ago she had tried to convince him to let her come back early, but she was still in crutches.

"So?" She had argued. "You let Reid."

"Reid had been shot. That's a much longer healing time then an ankle. My final answer is no. Take it easy and come back next week."

"I'm not saying let me go out in the field. Just let me do paperwork...or something. I'm going out of my mind with boredom." She pleaded.

Hotch wavered for a moment. Putting her on desk duty wasn't going to hurt her. But then, what if Strauss came around and started questioning her. A re-assignment was still possible. He had overheard the Unit Chief of that particular team complain to his buddies about her injury, which _seemed to be so sudden and convenient_. _Almost pre-emptive._ If Strauss starting hunting around while he was gone and he couldn't stop it; he'd never forgive himself. His team was supposed to stay intact. Ever since he refused early retirement she seemed even more out to get him.

"I'm sorry Emily. But my answer is still no. I thought your mother was visiting you. In from, where was it? Moscow?"

"Ha. Yeah. Thank you for that by the way. Just what I needed, my mother." She huffed, eyes narrowing at him. For a moment he thought she knew. Then that look passed and everything continued normally.

_It's just your imagination. She's doesn't remember anything._

Hotch hoped it was true. So far, she gave no indication she remembered their...moment. Mistake. Same thing. She had told him she definitely remembered falling, waking him and him being there. But after the hospital was 'all blurry and it's really annoying because, I dunno, I feel like I'm missing something and I don't like it.'

Their conversations for the past three weeks had been limited, purposely by Hotch. He didn't want to be around too much, in case it jogged her memory. He had visited twice, both in the accompaniment of David Rossi or with his son. The team had been good with making sure she was alright. Garcia stayed with her the first few nights, taken over by Morgan until she could climb stairs. At least one team member checked in every evening. Another reason why the team had to stay intact. They worked the best together. That's why they were the best.

Bringing himself back to the present, he watched her amble through. She was greeted by Reid and Morgan, hugged by all. Then she came up the stairs and knocked on his office. He cleared his throat roughly, straightening his back and said, "Come in."

"Hey." She said hands up showing him she was without crutches. He just gave her a look.

"Good to see you back Prentiss," He used her last name as if to distance himself from her. It was bad enough he had begun to think about 'Emily' outside of work. In the car; in the elevator, before going to bed....

"It's good to be back. Ready to jump right in." She grinned.

"How's the ankle?" He asked. He noticed a little limp as she was walking.

"Fine. I went to the doctor last week and he gave me a brace to wear in case it starts to get sore. I'm cleared to work." Emily added.

Hotch stiffened but tried to hide it. Had the doctor told her she should have only been out a week? That was the problem with lying. You had to spend copious amounts of time covering it up and worrying about being found out. The truth was easier. But he had no choice but to lie to keep her safe. If she ever found out, and he hoped she didn't, she would at least be able to see his side of things.

"...And Strauss said..." Hotch was to wrapped in his own thoughts and didn't catch what Emily had just said.

"What? What did Strauss say?" He interjected. Had Strauss circumvented him?

"I was saying that she wanted me in her office this afternoon." Emily said, her features narrowing. She knew Hotch hadn't been listening.

"We have a case. We'll be leaving in an hour." That wasn't true either, the briefing wasn't until an hour and then it depended on how long it took to get ready. He didn't share this information with her.

"Oh. Well, I'll email her now then." She said. Hotch was now thinking of moving the briefing up early. JJ might not be ready though.

_You're the boss. _A voice reminded him.

"I need to finish this report. Please tell the team briefing in a half hour." He dismissed her and dialled JJ. His media liaison impressed him by telling him she was ready when he was.

*~*

"Phoenix, Arizona has had three murders in the last two days. Two were women in their late thirties, one man in his late forties. They all appeared to be drugged and drowned. All the bodies were found along highway 60, deep into the desert. Local police can't track this unsub. They have no idea how he's getting in or out without leaving tire tracks, footprints. Nothing." JJ recited.

"Who are the victims?" questioned Hotch.

"The victims haven't been identified yet. Some of them have been attacked by wild animals preying on food. They think one of them is Candace Berson, and the man might be James Daren. There have also been 4 reported missing people in the last 24 hours."

"Phoenix has had an 18% decrease in the amount of crime just since November 2009. Car thefts and murder had drastically declined in the last five years and missing persons is average around 2 daily. Four people going missing on the same day would be rare, but not improbable." Reid added.

"When did the last victim die?" Morgan asked.

"Victim number 3, possible James Daren died 12 hours ago. Second victim, died a little over 24 hours ago and victim number one, almost 48 hours ago. Also there was no sexual assault on any of them."

"So roughly a 12 hour turn over. Sounds like a disorganized devolving killer to me." Rossi said.

"It says here there is no DNA or anything left on the victims. That speaks organized."

"Alright, an organized devolving killer." Rossi quipped.

"JJ is there anymore information?" Hotch asked.

"Phoenix is still sending me more as they get it."

"Okay. Wheels up in 20 minutes. I know it's not a lot of time but we have 12 hours until he should kill again."

*~*

On the plane, Hotch divided them up into smaller teams.

"Reid, you and JJ head to the precinct to set up. Reid, start on a geographical profile with whatever you can get. JJ, as soon as the victims are identified, get it to Garcia so she can trace back three days. Morgan, Dave you check out the latest crime scene and the second. Prentiss and I will go to the first and then meet Reid and JJ back to the precinct to go over victimology." They all nodded and got down to business.

*~*

_I shouldn't have brought her_, Hotch thought to himself. The Phoenix heat was almost unbearable in his black suit. It was well over 100 degree Fahrenheit, and he could feel himself sweat just walking out of the airport to the car. _Great job on wardrobe choice_, he berated himself. Why did he choose black all the time? Emily had the right idea and wore a white blouse with three quarter inch sleeves, with beige slacks. He noticed she hadn't been wearing it this morning. He hoped the heat wouldn't make her feel sick like he felt.

"What?" She asked, pulling her hair up into a neat ponytail. He had been staring to long.

"It's hot." He said lamely.

"Ick, god I know. How do people live here?" Her voice dropped so she wouldn't offend the official who was walking up.

"Hi y'all. I'm Deputy Steedler. I'm driving you folks out to the crime scene." They all shook hands.

"SSA Hotchner and SSA Prentiss." Hotch introduced. He wanted into the SUV, where there was sure to be air conditioning. He guessed wrong.

"Sorry folks, but our AC has been busted and most of the working cars are already out on the road. I hope you don't mind."

Hotch had to stop himself from groaning. "Not at all." Emily answered for him. He got into the passenger seat and Emily got into the back. His shoes were already dusty. Emily offered him a water bottle, which he gratefully took. He hated Phoenix already.

Emily's cellphone rang. "It's JJ." She said and put it on loud speaker.

"Two out of the three victims have been identified. James Daren was the male but Berson turned herself in this morning. The second victim had been identified as Rosa Huanca and one of the missing persons this morning was found by family members. There are still three missing."

"Tell Morgan and Rossi after visiting the crime scenes to go to the morgue."

"Oh yes, the coroner sent me the autopsy files. All victims were drowned but no signs of defence or strangulation. No signs of struggle."

"We'll they were drugged weren't they?" Emily put in.

"Yes, but not to the point of paralysis."

"Anything else JJ?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah, the coroner added that James Daren had a slight blow to the head."

"Slight?"

"Yeah, not a whole lot of force was used. Like a tap with a bat."

Hotch made a mental note to go over those files immediately when they got back. JJ had forwarded the reports to his phone but they were almost at the crime scene.

The sun was beating down on them when they got out of the SUV. Hotch decided to take off his suit jacket in favour of a blue shirt. "It's about a 100 yards in." The deputy said. _Christ_, Hotch thought.

"Can you drive any further?"

"Nope. Not with that piece of crap. Got stuck yesterday. It's mostly surrounded by shrubbery and then about 20 yards in turns to just desert. Damn dry dense desert." They started to move forward.

This time Hotch's cellphone rang. "Hey Hotch, it's me Morgan. We're lost out here. Not even this detective can find the crime scene."

"Deputy?" Hotch asked. They could not waste time on this. It was already mid afternoon. Time was running out.

"I'll head back. It's not far. Course the second and third crime scenes are more hidden. Guy must gotten better at hidin' them. Just keep heading straight. You can't miss it." The Deputy left them to go on.

"Lovely." Emily said sarcastically.

"Come on." They walked farther. Hotch rolled up his sleeves so he could wipe his forehead with his forearm and not his shirt. From the distance of 30 yards he could see the outline of tape.

"The bodies weren't buried, correct?"

"Correct." Emily answered, slipping on some gloves. She took a sip of water. Hotch regretted not saving some from his water bottle.

"Drink?" Emily offered after seeing his longing look. He nodded and took it.

_Her lips had just touched this..._Hotch nearly choked at that thoughts. He wasn't supposed to be thinking of Emily in that way.

"Okay?" Emily asked. Hotch just nodded.

They reached the edge of the tape. He could barely see the highway from here. He kicked some ground with his foot as he bent down to examine the area where the body lay. Emily was over on the other side.

That's when he heard a _crack_.

Emily looked up. "What was that?" She asked confused. Hotch didn't know but he started to get the feeling something bad was about to happen.

The ground beneath his feet shifted. Emily was walking over towards him. He should not have brought her here. The ground shifted again and cracked louder, Emily quickly rushed towards him, trying to grab his arm and pull him away while he tried to push or even throw Emily to safety.

The desert ground underneath them crumbled into one big hole and then—

*~*

**Short chapter I know (espeically with a cliff hanger) but I hope you liked it. I'm not a big case-writer so i hope it was followable. I wasn't sure where I was going with this (as I had not previously had a plot line further then the last chapter) but now I have a pretty good idea. Please let me know if you liked it!**

**Also, I wanted a vote: Should Hotch and Emily try a relationship between or not? You never know what might happen ;)**

**Until Next time,**

**~Lemony~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Once I knew only darkness and stillness...my life was without past or future...but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living.**

**Helen Keller**

*~*

There was no sound for anything. Emily wished she could scream out loud. Everything was happening so fast and yet so slow. She watched the ground collapse, reached for Hotch, as if she could possibly pull him to safety while she was falling as well.

As they fell through the earth, she could feel Hotch's arms around her. Covering her head, trying to possibly shield her from whatever was going to meet them down there. They would probably die instantly. Smashed into the ground. Like pancakes. She felt so sorry for Hotch; he had a son and a family. At least the only people she would disappoint would be her mother, who would probably have a huge funer....

The cold water shocked every thought out of her. Hotch had been grasping her so hard, she couldn't breathe but now he was gone. The water went up over her head, into her mouth, but it didn't lose its importance to her. They had hit water, not earth. She was still alive. She wouldn't be if she just kept laying there under water thinking about it!

Emily kicked, hard with her legs, to the surface. They stung from impact but she was otherwise okay. As soon as she surfaced she could hear a desperate voice calling out.

"Emily?" It was Hotch. "EMILY!?!" He was alive as well.

"I'm here." She croaked breathlessly. "Here." She tried louder. Hotch swung around and she could see sheer panic written all over his face. His suit billowed out in the water, as did her clothes, and if they hadn't just fallen 50 feet underground it would have been comical.

"Emily!" He swam over to her, hugging her. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Where do you hurt? Emily? Talk to me."

"Hotch...really I'm fine. Really. What about you? You took the brunt of the impact."

"I'm okay." He was also breathless. Emily looked around. They were treading in a pool of water, the only light coming from the hole about 50 feet up. She couldn't tell how deep the water was, but she was guessing and hoping she was right, that they were in some kind of cave. She tried feeling around in the darkness, but Hotch wouldn't let her go outside of an arm's length.

"We can't keep treading water like this. We'll get tired and who knows how long it will take them to get us out." She argued. Her legs already felt like heavy weights.

"I'll do it." Hotch said. "Stay in the light." He swam carefully a few feet; she could hear the water splashing around.

"I think...there's a ledge here." She heard him say. "It's likely big enough to fit both of us...but I don't know how high it is."

"Well anything's better then treading." She rushed over to where his voice was, scaring herself when she felt a body. It was Hotch's, but still. Feeling around in the dark was not ideal.

"Here." Hotch said, helping her up. Emily hoisted herself onto the ledge, which turned out to much bigger then Hotch had let on. Emily tried standing up straight.

"You can almost stand up here. It feels like a cave of some sort. The mouth gets wider and you move sideways. Here." She reached for his hand to help him up. "And its goes deeper."

She started to move into the cave, but Hotch stopped her. "No. We don't know what's down there, if anything. It might be dangerous. We'll stay here until help comes. At least we're shielded from any other falling rocks."

"True." She agreed. Her heart was still beating rapidly. She chose to sit down. The cave floor was dusty with soil and tiny rocks. She tried not to think about the bugs.

Hotch sat down beside her as well. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see the circular pool lighted up. She could barely see Hotch in the darkness, but it would be worse if they were submerged completely. She was thankful for the little bit of light they had.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked him again. He was being strangely silent.

"Yes." He said after a while.

"I wonder when they'll notice we're missing." Emily mused. She was cold, very cold in her wet clothes and trying to let her teeth chatter.

"Probably any moment. But it's more of a question when will they rescue us. The desert ground might be too dangerous to walk on now. That would slow things down."

"Crap." She said. "What are we going to do? It's like 4:30 in the afternoon, sun sets at what, 9? That's 4 and a half hours of sunlight left. What if they can't get us out by then? It gets real cold in the desert, and I'm freezing as it is."

She was more worried about hypothermia then more rocks falling.

"They'll get us out. Don't worry Emily." His voice was flat. She knew he was trying to convince himself of the same thing, but the pragmatic Emily always looked at the facts. The fact were that they were stuck in a cave for god knows how long.

"Here." She heard and felt Hotch stand up. "We should wring out our clothes so they aren't so wet. They'll dry faster and we won't be so cold." She nodded and stood up as well.

Hotch moved over to the other side of the cave, and although she could barely see him, she knew his back was turned for her privacy. Such a gentleman.

Emily stripped off her white t-shirt and pants, and started wringing out the water. Hotch had just through his suit jacket aside was working on his dress shirt. She quickly slipped out of her underclothes, replacing them with her freezing t-shirt and pants, so she could wring them out. Get back out of her pants, she put her underclothes on again, sans water and looked objectively at her clothes.

"Yeah, I'm not putting my pants back on." She stated.

"You should. They'll protect your skin from the elements. That's what survival training says."

"But they make me so cold." She staggered in the darkness over to Hotch, her hands outstretched. She felt his bare back, and him wringing out pants.

"What are you doing?" He asked tightly.

"We can share body heat." She said, getting closer to him. That's what the survival training said to do. She argued with herself. Body heat was a good thing_. Probably not best in your underwear_, her mind told her.

Hotch turned around facing her, and wrapped his arms around her. She was much warmer then she would have been in her pants.

"Shall we sit down?" She suggested. There wasn't much they could do now besides wait. Morgan and the team would figure soon enough they had fallen into the hole.

They sat down side by side. Emily began to rub her arms, trying to warm them up. This was not an ideal situation. Just like the shower incident, only this time there was the possibility they could have died. It wasn't lost on Emily how lucky they were.

"When do you think they'll find us?" She questioned. She didn't want to listen to silence.

"Soon."

Emily went back to shivering. How were they going to keep warm? Pride prevented her from asking to be closer to Hotch. Any closer and she would have to be in his arms. Which was weird enough as it is!

Her teeth started to chatter even more. "My god Emily. Your freezing." Hotch said, slowly wrapped an arm around her. He was to, and shivering. Emily laid her cheek on her chest, warmth immediately making its way into her limbs. She felt so tired.

"I could fall asleep." She said out loud. Hotch started to rub her arms and back, harsher then he had before.

"Don't you dare Emily Prentiss." He said in his sternest voice. She knew the dangers of falling asleep being so cold, but that didn't stop her eyes from drifting down.

"Keep talking." He ordered.

"About what?" She asked. Her brain didn't want to think.

"Anything. The profile. We have nothing else to do."

Emily pushed herself up a little, so her head was just underneath her chin and she forced her eyes open. "Fine. I think it's a woman."

"What? Why?" He seemed generally surprised.

"There was no sexual assault on the women."

"So? There doesn't always have to be."

"Yes, but usually there is some level of sexual torture. There's also no DNA left."

"Again..."

"I think if the unsub was male, the kills are so close together that he would be devolving and unable to control himself. But what if it's some kind of time table, a woman would be more methodical."

"Men can be just as methodical."

"She also had to hit Darren in the head before drowning him. Clearly the unsub had too because they are less powerful. JJ said he had been tapped with like a bat. And they had to be drugged. How many men drug women before they drown them? Usually it's the act of drowning that gets them off, and being drugged would take away from that."

"So..."

"So I think she's acting out a fantasy. Like Andrea Yates who drowned her own children."

"Andrea Yates was insane."

"Let me finish." Emily snapped. "She's acting out some kind of fantasy, and she has to drug them to drown them. Or Stun one with a blow to the head and then drug him. If it was all about drowning, she should have just drowned Darren but no, she took the time to drug him."

"How is she drugging them?"

"Hmm. They are ingesting them, so maybe through drinks or food. Which speaks to a female unsub also."

"She would have to be a trust member of a community. A social worker, or therapist?"

"Maybe. Although a social worker would have access to children. Children who are much weaker than adults."

"Okay then. What about the desert? Explain that."

"She lives near the desert. A woman would be much less suspicious then a man. The police were probably looking for men only."

"Victimology."

"I dunno. Maybe these people represent her family. A sister. Mother, father. Like Lizzy Borden, even though I know she didn't drown them. Or maybe they have some connection to her. Friends. Co-workers. People who have done her wrong. Garcia would need to find a connection between them."

"Alright, Sherlock. It sounds plausible. But it could also be a man."

They lapsed into silence. Emily had been thinking and tinkering with her profile all morning after she had heard no sexual assault. It just seemed to fit. But like Hotch had pointed out, it was possible but unlikely. Men were more attuned to being serial killers even though women could be more efficient at it.

"Emily?" Hotch asked after a while. She was still a little bit cold, but more wide awake now.

"Yeah?" She answered.

"Just checking." They went back to silence. They didn't have much to talk about other then profiles and they had exhausted that already. Emily guessed more than an hour had passed, she couldn't really see her watch and their cellphones had perished in the dirty water. The team should have been here by now. She was starting to get hungry.

Her thoughts turned, as the sometimes did, to her boss, who was absentmindedly rubbing her back softly. It felt way too nice, to be stuck in a cave, half naked and in your boss's arms. A boss who three weeks ago found you wrapped in a towel and saved the day. Speaking of which...

"Hotch?"

"Yeah?"

"Did I ever say thanks for helping me out three weeks ago?"

She felt him stiffen. "I don't remember."

"Well, thanks."

"You're welcome."

Silence again. Emily chewed her lip. She really didn't want to ask this, but it had been bugging her for a while. But here they were, half naked cuddling up against each other. She had to know.

"Why did you kiss me?"

"Huh?" Hotch stopped what he was doing, frozen. She knew that question had thrown him off, but he had instigated it in the first place by kissing her.

She hadn't remembered at first, or anything past getting to the hospital, until he came by with Rossi one day and had been wearing the same shirt and tie as that day. It jarred her memory and shocked her. Hotch, kissing her? What are the odds?

And now that she thought about, had been thinking about it a lot, she needed to know why. Did he have feelings for her? Is that why? Or was it just a fleeting moment?

The question really was how were her feelings to him? She hadn't minded the kiss, or even stopped it.

It was slightly confusing. She had no romantic feelings for Hotch, but she really had enjoyed the kiss. Could she envision herself having romantic feelings? Was liking the kiss a budding feeling? Was she thinking about it too much? Overanalyzing it to death? Gosh, she wasn't even listening to Hotch's answer.

Probably because he hadn't answered.

"Well?" She asked again. Hotch had sat up straight and pulled away from her.

"I thought you didn't remember."

"Well I do."

"I have no explanation.....I didn't mean it. It was a fluke."

"Oh." She said, not convinced. He was trying to save face. You don't just randomly kiss people, especially Aaron Hotchner. He had a lot more will-power than anyone she knew.

But she would let him save face, if that's what he wanted. He probably did regret it. It could mess up a lot of things. Or be really great...but that was beside the point. Getting involved with an employer was not an option. Ever.

"Okay." She said.

"That's it? Just okay?" He suddenly asked.

"Yeah, I just wanted—"

"HOTCH? EMILY? HOTCH! EMILY!" Someone screamed down the hole. They sounded far away, not right above them. They stood up, previous conversation forgotten.

"Hello? Morgan? HELLO?" Hotch yelled back up. It had sounded like Morgan's voice. Over a bullhorn.

"ARE YOU HURT?"

"NO!" They shouted up.

"DON'T WORRY! WE'LL GET YOU OUT."

"Oh thank god." Emily said. They were saved. She went over to check her pants and t-shirt. They were still cold and wet. Hotch had already sat back down when she came over again.

"We should be out of here in no time." He told her. Apparently they were just going to pretend nothing had happened. Emily didn't feel overly happy at that. She wanted answers, and men were terrible at talking about their feelings. The only reason Emily hadn't brought it up before was because they never had any private moments. Until now. Which was a _real_ private moment.

"HOTCH? WE'RE THROWING DOWN A WALKIE-TALKIE."

"Make sure they put it in a plastic bag. Or it will get wet and not work." Emily told him, who relayed that message back to Morgan.

When the walkie-talkie was thrown down, in a plastic zip-loc bag, Hotch drove into the water to get it.

"Guys?" Morgan's voice came out of the machine.

"Yes?"

"Are you hurt?"

"No. Emily's fine and so am I. Just cold and hungry. We're about 50 feet down in a cave. There's a huge pool of water but ledges. We're fine for now."

They could hear Morgan blowing out a breath of relief. "Geez guys, you can't do this stuff to us. Look, sheriff says it's too dangerous for anyone to go near the hole, but their calling engineers with a crane to come out. It still might be a while."

"Ask him if he can send any supplies down?" Emily suggested.

"Can you send us anything?"

"First aid? I thought you said you weren't hurt."

"We're aren't." Emily took the walkie-talkie. "Can you throw down some dry clothes, blankets and food? It's really cold down here. We might be hypothermic."

"How can I do that if it's going to land in water?" Morgan asked.

"Plastic bags, Morgan. Ask JJ, she has space bags. Throw a bunch of stuff in one and send it down. We really need to keep warm."

"Alright. I'll try my best. I'll be checking in with you, and let me know if anything happens. I'll keep you posted."

Emily felt relieved. They were getting out of here, or at least warm clothes. "Should we tell them about the profile?" She asked, handing it back to Hotch.

"I will. Let's hope they get stuff down to us quickly though."

*~*

**Hi there! So sorry it took so long to update (by my standards at least) but life intervened over the weekend and I had to set this aside for a few days. But, the next instalment should be up within a couple of days, I promise!**

**This is turning into a much bigger project then I had intended. I'll be wrapping it up soon (within 3 or 4 chapters). Stay tuned and review!**

**~Lemony~**


	5. Chapter 5

**Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. **

**Helen Keller **

***~***

An hour later, a huge plastic bag tumbled down the hole, knocking rocks off the walls. It landed with a big splash, but Emily and Hotch were thankful. Hotch once again drove in to get it.

"Clothes, nice dry warm clothes, blankets, a flashlight, a first aid kit." She started taking things out.

"Food?" Hotch asked climbing back up onto the ledge.

"Yes. Thank god. It looks like they raided a convenience store. Snickers? Ritz Crackers?" She asked, going through the assorted chocolate bars and goodies.

Hotch took a snickers bar, and some of his dry clothes from of his go-bag and went to the other side to get changed. Emily laid out a blanket, tugged on a sweater (she reminded herself to thank JJ immensely in the future) and some jeans. "Socks!" She cried pulling on two pairs. Who knew how good dry socks felt until you didn't have them.

They had been given three blankets, and as much stuff you could fit into a space bag. Hotch came back over, also in a sweater and dress pants.

"Did you guys get it?" Rossi's voice echoed in the cave from the walkie-talkie.

"Yes. Thanks guys." Emily said into to, mouth full of crackers. They were her favourite. That and the teddy grams.

"I've got some bad news. These engineers think the ground with collapse more if they drag a crane over it. They want to wait until morning for better light."

"How is that going to help?" Hotch snapped. "Yeah." Emily agreed. She didn't want to spend the night in a cave.

"We're trying to reason with them. And Reid seems to think if we can get a bigger crane and stadium lights, we can get you out just fine. He's arguing with them now."

"Try your best." Hotch said and proceeded to tell them Emily's theory of the unsub.

"It's possible." Was Rossi's first statement. "Garcia found that James Darren was a god awful parent who had his children taken away from him and an alcoholic who frequented the same bars as the other two victims."

"You identified all?" Hotch asked.

"Yes, other victim was Cynthia Callihan. Also not on this year's parent's award list. Abandoned her two children on the side of a road."

"What about Huanca?"

"Same bar; just had a nasty break up with her boyfriend. He's been cleared."

"Keep looking Dave, there was bound to be some cross over."

An idea came to Emily head. She tapped Hotch's arm. "What?" He said.

"A Bartender. Who gets cried at constantly about other people's problems? Bartenders. She probably has been listening to these people whine and bitch about their families. And she snapped. She could be drugging them through their drinks." She explained.

"Dave, look at employees of that bar." Hotch told him.

"Garcia's already on it. I'll keep you posted it."

"See I told you it was a woman."

"We don't know that yet, Prentiss." He said firmly.

"It's a lead at least." She pointed out. Hotch conceded. Silence. Again. At least this time they were warm inside blankets and had food.

"This is like having an underground picnic." She said out loud. Hotch laughed.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"So how can kissing someone be a fluke?" Emily blurted out. She watched Hotch choke from his water bottle. It dribbled down his chin.

"Prentiss—Emily..."

"It's just a question. It's not like I'm going to tell anyone." At least, not at the very moment.

He was silent for a very long time. Morgan had checked in on the twice before his answer.

"I don't know why I did it. I already told you this, that night, it would get to complicated and it's wrong."

"Why is it wrong?"

"It's against Bureau rules. It's unethical. You're my subordinate."

"Hey, I didn't kiss you. It was the other way around."

"It wouldn't be a good idea to start something. Anything for that matter. I have to concentrate on my son." He stated.

"I know. I was only asking."

"Were you? Why does it matter so much to you?"

"It doesn't." She huffed. It really didn't. She was trying to figure out this man. That's all. There was no underlying hurt at being told 'it didn't mean anything'.

"Then why are you asking. I'm a profiler as well Emily."

"Look Hotch. I'm not going to tell you it's a terrible idea. Or that the kiss was bad. It's your own prerogative. But you can't keep secluding yourself to just you, work and your son. I think a little bit of need slipped out there. Maybe you should do something with it." Not necessarily with her. Though it wasn't like she had a boyfriend at the moment. She was his friend and only that.

She could tell he was rolling his eyes. "I highly doubt that."

"Then why else would you have done it?"

He was silent.

*~*

They were still stuck in the cave an hour later. Emily was laying on her back, under a blanket, staring up at the brown ceiling (they were using the flashlight as a lamp), asking herself some tough questions.

She hadn't wanted the kiss to end. Was that because she wanted the attention of a man? Who happened to save the day, or just be a really great man? Was it just the attention part, or because it had been Hotch? The kiss had been so long ago she couldn't figure out the difference.

"I liked it." She stated.

"What? Falling in a cave?"

"No. The kiss." She heard nearly groan as she brought it up again. "Did you like it?"

"I haven't kissed anyone like that since before Hayley left me."

"Wow. That's a long time. But it doesn't answer my question."

"Yes." Emily was a little bit more satisfied. He had liked it.

"Do you have feelings for me?" She asked bluntly.

"I can't have feelings for you. For reasons explained earlier."

"Doesn't answer my question."

"Do you have any feelings for me?" It was her turn to be silent.

Aaron Hotchner. The stoic and severe Aaron Hotchner. The good-looking, admirable, intelligent, honest and ass-kicking Aaron Hotchner. He was better than the average guy. He would be a real catch. Except for fact they worked together, and he had just lost the love of his life and had a son. Which made him even that more admirable. She could certainly be attracted to him. He had all the best traits she wanted in another. But was she attracted to him? When they kissed, she was.

"No. But maybe. I dunno."

"Contradict much?"

"Just because you can't have feelings for someone doesn't mean you don't."

"How can you maybe have feelings for someone?"

"Well, we are friends aren't we? I have good feelings for you to begin with. You're a good person."

"Thank you, but that's still very vague."

"At least I'm talking about it. I don't want to pretend nothing happened."

"Then what do you want?"

She wanted to be with someone, but she didn't know if that was Aaron Hotchner.

"Do you want to be with someone?" She asked him.

"What?"

"Like, have a relationship with someone. Someone to come home to, someone to cuddle up with in bed—"

"Men don't cuddle."

"You know what I mean. Having a person there? Who wants to be with you because of who you are? Don't you want that?"

"Maybe."

"Do you want that person to be me?"

"_Do you_ want me to be that person?"

"Stop turning things around and just answer!" She said. Him and his lawyer ways...

"Maybe...but it will never happen. So why bother?"

"Because you just can't turn off feelings Hotch. I've tried. It doesn't work." She snapped. She had learned that lesson a time or two ago.

"So what do you want to do about it?" He asked.

"About what?" He rolled his eyes again.

"Feelings?"

"I was under the impression nothing was being done." It was true. Especially in their situation. Their jobs would not easily allow it.

"After this whole entire time of pushing me to tell you and now you take it back? You can't turn off feelings but you can just leave them alone?" He snapped at her, sitting up.

"Well like you said, it wouldn't work. And I don't know if I want you to be that person."

"How can you not know?"

"Because it's been three weeks since you kissed me! And I was high on morphine."

"Fine. Then, here." And he kissed her again. She could feel and would remember everything now. The taste of chocolate, and Hotch was delicious. And she was kissing him back, just like she did before.

"Hey guys?" Emily and Hotch broke apart like they had been caught at something.

"Yeah?" Hotch breathed into the walkie-talkie. He had lost all his breathe in the kiss.

"They got a crane that they can manoeuvre from a safe distance. It's going to come down the hole and pull you guys out. Okay?"

"Okay!" They said together. Emily moved away from him, cheeks flushed a deep red, and began collecting their strayed belongings, packing them into the bag.

"I don't think we're going to need those anymore." Hotch told her.

"Why not? It seems like a waste to leave it down here." They heard the jingle of a machine above, and slowly a rope was lowered into the opening.

"We're going to have to get in the water again." She groaned. Just when she was getting warm.

The crane lowered and Hotch wrapped the safety lines around Emily before himself. Soon they were being carefully lifted out. So slowly, that Emily could touch the walls of the hole as they moved up. She had to because the rope was swinging and she didn't want to crash into the hard rock.

It was late at night, and the only light was from bright stadium lights from the local high school. As soon as they touched actual ground they were surrounded with the team, paramedics and the local police. Emily was separated from Hotch, JJ dragging her to an ambulance to get checked out. She started shivering again and thankfully another set of warm clothes made its way into her hands.

"What was it like?" JJ asked afterwards. Emily was relaxing on the comfy bed of their hotel (compliments of the local sheriff) enjoying a hamburger from McDonalds.

"At first it was scary; I thought we were going to die. Thank god there was water."

"Yeah, that's lucky."

"But then it was annoying to be cold and waiting. We knew we'd get out, but it wasn't fun."

JJ nodded, stealing a few fries. "What about the case? Anything happen?" Emily asked. JJ sighed.

"Well, we found out who the unsub is. Now we just need to catch _her_."

"How's that?"

"She killed her boss. Who was the bar owner, at the bar you said. She's on the run, but no other missing persons have been notified."

"I knew it!"

"How?"

Emily pondered this. "I guess I've been waiting for this kind of unsub. It just fits. Like how if you answer 'Abraham Lincoln' in class you'll get it right at one point."

They laughed.

*~*

Emily caught up with Hotch the next day at the precinct. They were narrowing down on Sheila Hopkins' whereabouts.

"Hey." She said, taking a seat across from him. They both looked perfectly normal, Hotch in his classic suit and tie, and Emily is a long sleeve blouse (she was enjoying all the warmth that Phoenix could give). It could be another day at the office. Except they had to deal with what had happened. Emily had picked a time when everyone was busy. It was Reid and Morgan's turn to patrol and Rossi was helping JJ with another press conference.

"Hi." He said not looking up from paperwork. Emily leaned back into the chair. She could wait.

"Is there something you wish to discuss?"

"You kissed me again." She hadn't planned on being so blunt, but it was amusing to see him stiffen and eyes dart around the office to see if anyone had heard.

"Do you have to bring this up _now_?" he whispered.

"Yes." She gave no further explanation. "Why?" He asked.

"Because if we don't talk about it now, we'll never discuss it." She could see the words 'and that's a problem why?' forming on his lips but surprisingly he never uttered them.

"So?" She pressed.

"What do you want me to say?" _Men can be so pigheaded_, she thought.

She shrugged. "A little responsibility would be nice."

"I take full responsibility for my actions. You know that already."

"I'll make it clear cut for you. If you never want to mention this again, I'll accept that and move on. If you don't..." She had given it a lot of thought during the night. A part of her knew this likely wasn't the best idea, but that didn't mean nothing could work. She'd be willing to give it a shot, at least. If he wanted to. If he didn't, then so be it.

The wavering he was doing didn't help. "I'm not sure." Hotch said.

"Fine. I'll take that as a no. I'm going to get some air." She said, getting up and walking away. Emily didn't like that much hesitation in a man. He either knew it or he didn't want it. Gosh, it had been 3 weeks. She could easily put this behind her. It was just a kiss. Just a kiss. Just one—

"Emily, wait!"

*~*

**Still enjoying the story? Review and tell me! **

**Thanks to all those who have reviewed so far, you really keep this fic going. It's so nice to hear from you :-D.**

**A/N: To the gentleman (batman guy) who asked about my Helen Keller quotes. I can't pm you so I'll just write my answer here. **

**Helen Keller happens to be one of my personal favourite historical figures. Yes, she was deaf, blind and for a time, mute. She did learn to read, write and eventually speak. She was the first deaf-blind to get a bachelor's degree and she graduated from many schools, among them, Radcliffe. She published 12 books, was a political activist, a woman suffuragist and lecturer. She overcame her odds in a time where woman didn't have so many rights and got a good education which she used for those who weren't so well off. It you want more information on Helen Keller, check out her biography, google her or read her wikipedia page. That's how she has quotes ;-). **


	6. Chapter 6

** Nothing defines humans better than their willingness to do irrational things in the pursuit of phenomenally unlikely payoffs. This is the principle behind lotteries, dating, and religion.**

**Scott Adams**

** *~***

"Emily, wait!"

Hotch had tried to keep his voice quiet and discreet but she continued to walk away, out the door and into the heat. He chased after her. It wasn't that he didn't want something with her; there was just a greater chance of _everyone_ getting hurt. That was enough to make him sit and think about the right thing to do. There was an unwritten rule of not dating a friends or co-worker; because in the end; his track record wasn't great for women not getting hurt.

He chased after her until they were outside, well away from everyone. Maybe Emily had intended it that way. He had been genuinely floored that she would even consider him. But Emily had always been an enigma.

Like today. Even in the hot Arizona sun, she wore a light, white blouse that buttoned at her wrist, her long dark hair framing her face. She looked beautiful in the bright sunlight. Any man would see that. She didn't know the effect she had on men.

"Yes?" She said, hands on hips.

"I'm not very good at this," he said honestly. But the look on her face told him to hurry the hell up and make his point, or he wouldn't even have a chance with her. "But, you know, if you wanted to get a cup of coffee sometime that would be fine. With me."

He hated the way he said it, after it came out. He sounded like a teenager, not the forty-year old man he prided himself on. The one who stared unsub's down and took Foyet's beating without blinking. This was totally new territory.

Emily's masked look softened. "Sure." She agreed.

*~*

They were still standing on the sidewalk when an SUV came screeching up beside them. Reid jumped out the driver's seat while Morgan pushed out a handcuffed and very dishevelled woman struggling from the back seat.

"They deserved it! Each and every one of them!" The woman screamed out to them. Morgan handed her over to the local police who had to drag her into the precinct for booking.

Morgan stood up beside them, with Reid looking mildly stunned beside him. "Damn woman had a girl from the bar locked up and drugged in her car. Was trying to drown her in the ditch when we got to them." He fumed, wiping blood off his arm.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked, examining the cut.

"Yeah. She's deranged as hell."

"What about the victim?" Hotch asked. The look on Morgan's face wasn't good. "She's on the way to the hospital, with paramedics trying to revive her. I dunno what happened after that." Hotch nodded. He knew what the survival rate was for kidnapped victims. Unsub's always tried to erase their tracks.

"What are you guys doing out here?" Reid asked them.

Hotch cast a look at Emily. "Just getting some air." She said casually.

"Let's go home. I'm tired of this heat and dry air." Morgan snapped, leaving the three agents behind.

"Yeah, this heat's making everyone do wacky things." Reid added, following him. This time Hotch didn't dare look at Emily. Because asking your subordinate out on a coffee date, especially for him, could be considered 'wacky'.

*~*

The plane ride home was uneventful. Hotch watched the team members carefully; judging when Morgan would finally fall asleep with his head phones on, or when Reid would put down his damn book. He cast another glance over at Emily. She was sitting at the back of the plane involved in a book. She hadn't looked at him at all. Not like him, who had been stealing looks all evening.

Was it just him? Being a profiler did not help in these situations. You could over analyze everything. Question every word a person said. It was his job after all. But it did not help. He wanted to keep talking to Emily, have the private time they did in the cave. Except not be in the cave. They couldn't do it here on the plane. Or in the office.

He had so many questions. So many new...feelings or whatever you called them.

This was his first date in....years. Decades. His first date from the first date with Hayley. That gave him about zero experience. Even since his divorce. He never courted any women. Well he almost tried once, but she had gotten blown up in a terrorist attack. After that he had simply assumed he'd be alone for the rest of his life. It made sense and looked easier. And after Hayley's death...well he had Jack to look after. Maybe Emily was right about the need to be with someone slipping out

But back to his first date in decades. He really did not know what he was getting into. He was forty years old and set in his ways. Yes, he and Emily where friends but outside of work, he didn't know much about her. He did know she dated, a lot.

Not a whole lot, not like Morgan. But much more than him. She probably knew a lot more about the dating game.

Okay. He went from thinking of having coffee with Emily Prentiss...to dating her? _For god's sake take it slow_! He reminded himself. _Very, very slow._

He took a deep breath and focused on the paper in front of him. It didn't matter if he didn't read the words or take them in. He had offered coffee to Emily, then what? And where? They couldn't go to the local coffee shop in Quantico. They'd be seen and Strauss didn't need another thing on him.

He couldn't take back the offer now. Not that he wanted to. That would be cowardly, and he was anything but a coward. He might have a few hidden insecurities, his ability to parent his heartbroken child or his ability to be the best husband—or boyfriend, or participate in a coffee date; he knew one thing. Emily Prentiss understood the job. His job. Perhaps if he didn't always have to compromise in that situation it could really work.

His thoughts were leading him places he didn't want to go right now, so he shook them out of his head, stole another look to Emily—who caught his eye and gave him a shy smile, which gave him good feelings he hadn't had in a while. Like seeing his son smile when he came home feelings. Except, with a woman.

*~*

"I should have gotten a date out of him. Something concrete. Instead of all this waiting." Emily told her best friend, JJ, who had been relatively surprised at this news. Emily tried to play it down as much as possible.

"Sweetie," Penelope Garcia started, "It's been a day. Just a day. He has other thing to attend to before he takes you out on a date." JJ and Garcia chuckled.

"It's just coffee. It's not a date." She denied. JJ rolled her eyes and sipped her latte. The girls were having a coffee date themselves, holed up in Garcia's office. It was the only place that the walls didn't have ears. And _this_ could not get out and be local BAU gossip.

"Apparently I'm going to be the voice of reason in this group. Emily, what have you gotten into? A relationship with Hotch? This is going to get so messy. Have you thought about what could happen?" JJ said.

"JJ I love you to death but I really have thought this through. I'm a grown woman; I know what I'm doing. It's _only coffee_." Emily scolded.

"Alright. But just be careful"

"I will." Emily promised.

*~*

Hotch slowly packed up his briefcase, trying to drag out the last few minutes until he left work. It wasn't that he didn't want to go home and sweep Jack into his arms, hear what had happened that day at daycare or who had done what at playtime. The little insecurities he kept hidden were getting bigger by the moment. He needed to get this over with.

He shut off the light and closed his office door. It was after six, and most of the desks were empty in the bullpen. Except for Emily's desk. She was still working away.

"Hey." He greeted. She looked up and gave him a bright smile. How he loved seeing that face...

"Hi."

"It's late." He motioned to all the random papers on her desk.

She sighed. "Yeah, I know. Going home?" She asked.

He hoped she couldn't see any beads of sweat on his forehead. "Not exactly. Do you want to go grab that coffee?"

"Now?"

"If you're not doing anything." He shrugged, trying to remain neutral. He watched Emily look over her entire desk and for a second thought she was going to refuse. Then she said, "Okay." And grabbed her jacket.

"Where do you want to go?" she asked when they stepped into the elevator.

"Do you know of any good places?"

She leaned back against the elevator and looked deep in thought. "There's a really good coffee house, called Insomnia, close to the 95? It's more in Dumfries then Woodbridge but they have good coffee."

"And it's called Insomnia?" He teased.

She smiled. "Yes, because their open really late. I've been there before on late nights."

"No Starbucks?"

"That's morning or day coffee, Hotch." She laughed. "So are we going to drive there separately?"

"If you want. If it's in Dumfries it's not too far away; we could go in my car and I can drive back."

"Okay." She said as he held the elevator door and they walked to his car.

*~*

Talking to Emily Prentiss was much easier then he thought it would be. She seemed genuinely pleased to hear about Jack and she certainly kept up her side of the conversation. She had been a lot of interesting places; met a lot of interesting people and done a lot of interesting things. The most he had to talk about was Jack, or past cases and agents.

He was currently telling her about the unsub who had terrorized Max Ryan, another BAU veteran when they realized it was way past nine.

"I should be getting home." He said sadly, looking at his own watch which told the truth about how late it was.

"No problem." She said. They paid for their coffee's, Hotch insisting he pays for hers as it was his _treat_, and Emily begrudgingly putting her wallet back into her purse.

"Thank you very much. I had a good time." She said after he parked back into Quantico.

"I did to. We should do it again." He said honestly. It had been so long since he had, had a good conversation outside of work that didn't revolve around work.

She nodded. Hotch wildly debated if this was the right time to kiss her, but then he waited too long thinking about and was stuck with smiling stupidly about it as she got out of his car.

"Damn it." He cursed watching her get into her blue vehicle. He observed her pulling away and driving off, the look of her face was contentment so maybe it was alright he hadn't kissed her tonight.

Jessica was watching television when he got home, Jack already being in bed. "How was your date?" She asked smugly. He had expressed to her that morning that he felt like a bit of a teenager, and she was enjoying his lack of confidence for whatever reason. Perhaps because he never lacked confidence.

"It went better than I thought it would." He said honestly, throwing his briefcase to the side.

"Are you going to ask her out for the real thing?" She asked, getting ready to leave.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, Aaron. 'Coffee' is just a preliminary thing where men and women test each other out for the real date. I'm not a profiler and I know that." She laughed.

"Then since it went well, I would assume I was going to." And he meant it. He was going to already planning on where to take her.

*~*

Emily entered her apartment and saw she had three messages on her phone. The first one was from JJ and second from Garcia. She didn't recognize the number for the third so she left it alone.

She dialled JJ who requested she call her immediately.

"So how'd it go?" JJ answered the phone with.

"Hello to you to." Emily said, curling up comfortably on her couch. "It was good. A little weird but that's to be expected."

"Emily I have to say again, be careful. Getting involved with your boss is never a good idea. I'm not going to judge you or anything...just..."

"I know JJ. And we aren't involved with anything yet."

"Yet." JJ repeated.

"Yet." Emily said wistfully.

"So what was it like?" Emily went on to describe where they went and so on. It seemed to satisfy JJ enough with the knowledge she was being level-headed and responsible about this budding relationship. _It's not like I'm going to jump him on a date_, Emily laughed to herself.

"So when's the next date? Or is there going to be another date?" JJ asked.

"I _think_ there's going to be another date. There's no reason why there shouldn't be." Emily said more to herself then anyone. She really had enjoyed herself. Hotch was a good companion, and he wasn't bad to look at. She and JJ chatted a little more and then hung up.

Emily was reading in bed when Hotch called her.

"Hey." She answered.

"I didn't know if it was alright to call, or if I should have just texted you. Texting seems kinda of lame."

"No, it's alright. I wasn't doing anything."

"Okay, so what are you doing next Friday?"

"Well I was planning on going into work but if you something else in mind." She joked. He laughed. She found she enjoyed making him laugh.

"Friday night?"

"Not a thing."

"Then would you like to go to dinner? At Gaffney's?"

"I love Gaffney's!" She exclaimed.

"Great. So Gaffney's at 8?"

"Sounds like a plan. Wait—are we meeting there?"

"Um...no, I can pick you up. So seven thirty then?"

"Seven thirty, next Friday. Got it." She couldn't help feeling giddy at this. She had another date with Aaron Hotchner!

*~*

**A/N 1: First let me apologize for taking so DAMN long on updating. I'm really sorry, but life got into the way and I just had no time to write. Rather then just give you guys crap to read, I choose to wait for something half-decent (I know a lot didn't go on in this chapter, but it picks up again don't worry ;-) ). I also had to decide where I was going to take this, and know that I have a pretty good idea where it's going. Remember this was only written to be like two or three chapters and now it's a six lol and going to be more ;-).**

**Also please review (and be kind lol)!! I love getting them.**

**~Lemony~**


	7. Chapter 7

**"Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional"**

**- Greta Randolph**

***~***

Emily grumbled as she slammed her front door. She was _not_ in a good mood.

"Men." She hissed out loud, stripping of her jacket and flinging it to the floor. She left it there and stomped upstairs. Emily could not remember a time where she had been so aggravated. False, she could, but she could never remember it being directed at this one man.

Aaron Hotchner.

She flung her high-heeled shoes into the closet, tore off the pretty dress she had worn for him and let it fall to the ground.

"How dare he?" She snapped to the mirror as she wiped off the make-up and dragged her fingers through the curls to mess them up. How could she have kid herself into thinking any relationship with him would work?

Oh yes, a kiss.

Well he hadn't kissed her tonight. No, she had stormed out of the restaurant and left him there. She would go to him Monday and tell him she was in no longer interested in him. Ever.

Emily still had a ton of pent up angry so she threw on some sweatpants and walked to the local convenience store to stock up on comfort food.

"Bad night?" The pimply teenager at the cash asked her. Emily just rolled her eyes and paid for her purchase. She was tempted to give a snarky answer, but the teenager hadn't been the one to insult her.

Back home, she settled herself in bed with snacks and before she could stop herself she began replying the 'date'.

_A knock at front door startled her and she ended up poking herself in the eye. "Ow!" she cried, her eye tearing. Great. Her hands fluttered above the bathroom counter. She was nowhere near ready. But Hotch was here._

_She didn't want to keep him waiting, or let him observe her while she continued to get ready. What message would that send? Emily pinned her hair back so it would look half decent, put some lip gloss on, raced around her bedroom for a decent pair of shoes—she inadvertently grabbed ones that didn't match her deep purple dress but oh well, Hotch wouldn't notice hopefully. _

_She took the stairs two at the time, fitted her feet into high heels, grabbed her jacket and purse and swung open the door for him. Ta da!_

_Emily could have melted at the sight of him. He wore a simple gray shirt and black jacket. He looked utterly yummy. What made him so yummy was he didn't have the usual severe look on his face. He looked relaxed, content. Not a look you saw around the BAU very often. _

"_Ready?" He asked. What was it tonight about people asking one word questions? She mused to herself. _

"_Yes." _

Sure the date had started out fine. But it didn't end fine.

*~*

"How'd it go?" Jessica pounced on him the moment he stepped through the door. She was anxiously waiting for juicy details of his 'date'.

Hotch just felt exhausted. "I screwed things up." He admitted. He knew Emily must be pissed at him, the look on her face when she left told him so. But couldn't she at least see his side of things?

"What? Aww....but it's just a first date? How badly did you screw things up?"

"We got into an argument."

"But it's the first date. What do you have to argue about?"

"It was work related." He said as he got himself a glass of water. Hotch only wanted to go to bed and forget about the entire thing. There was no way they could come back from this. Not now. Perhaps if he had chased after her, but then he hadn't. And it was too late now.

He had contemplated chasing after her, but it had seemed too strange and surreal. It was Emily. He knew her temperament well enough. The look on her face told him she wanted to be left alone, and if he had chased after her, it would only prolong their damn disagreement.

_The evening had started off well. He arrived probably a bit too early, but Emily looked fine with that. In fact she looked perfect. The color purple she wore contrasted beautifully with her pale skin and dark hair. _

"_Ready?" he breathed trying not to stare too much._

"_Yes." She answered sweetly._

_Hotch felt bad for not bringing anything for her, flowers or something. But that felt fake at the same time. He wasn't a flowers man. He rarely has surprised Hayley and that was only when she was upset with him or he wanted to end an argument. Flowers between him and Emily seemed too weird, and besides she had hardly noticed. _

_They arrived at the restaurant and were seated at a table. He quickly discovered their conversation revolved largely around Jack and the BAU, and they were exhausting most of what they had in common. They lapsed into silence after the waiter brought them drinks and they were ordering appetizers. The date was falling flat and he didn't know how to pick it back up._

_He didn't have a lot to offer. Who wanted to talk about his murdered ex-wife who had left him a year before and he had been married for years? Not him. _

_Emily was trying to keep up conversation thankfully. That's when it had all turned sour. _

"_Strauss called me into her office today." She said. Hotch immediately felt defensive at the name of his boss. Strauss was never up to any good._

"_Is that why you were missing this afternoon?" He tried to keep his voice even, but the underlying resentment slipped out. Emily of all people should be able to understand. Strauss had tried to use her the last time she had been in her office. And Hotch vividly remembered Strauss's last request for the use of his agent. _

"_Yes. She wants me to help out a case in Miami. They're really struggling down there." Emily did not seem the least bit perturbed. She helped herself to another roll, completely oblivious. _

"_As in, transfer?" There was no way this could happen. It was like a repeat of last month. He could not lose her from the team. There was no way she was going. He'd tell Strauss that to her face. _

It didn't go over well after that.

*~*

She sighed against the headboard, finding no solace in funny television shows. She shut off the television and then turned it on again. Nothing good was distracting her, but she was less antsy now. It was slowly wearing itself away. The anger, the unfairness.

Why had Hotch reacted that way? It wasn't like she had the choice; of course she would rather stay in D.C. instead of going to Miami but they _needed_ her. Much more right now then the BAU did.

"_What?" She asked after catching the disbelieving look on his face._

"_You said no, right?" He demanded. He was staring at her intently, just like he did with unsub's to get the truth out of them. She had nothing to hide. _

"_No." It came out more aggressive then she wanted, but she did not like his tone. _

_He sat back swiftly, displeasure written all over him. "And why not?" _

_She was utterly confused. Why did Hotch have such resentment towards the idea of her being away for a month? She would be helping the Miami department out. They didn't have a serial killer but they needed her skills as a linguistic and profiler. They needed help period. _

"_Because they need help. It's my job and it wasn't like I could say no." Not that she would have if that had been an option._

_While she dearly loved the BAU, it was a fantastic feeling to be singled out not because of her parent's, looks or the team's success. She was singled out because of her _skill_. And that didn't happen often. She didn't mind being in the shadows, but once, just once; she wanted to be known for her capabilities. That moment was now. And she was going to take it regardless. For herself._

"_And the BAU is a resource, even for the FBI." She added. He couldn't argue with that. But he tried. _

"_They aren't calling the BAU. They're calling you. If they wanted the BAU as a resource why aren't the rest of us invited?" he challenged. _

"_The BAU is stretched enough as it is, don't you think? And this is a month's posting. I don't see what you're getting so upset over. It's not a like it's a transfer." _

_He scoffed and muttered "I'm not _upset_." _

"_Whatever." She snapped back. The mood had certainly turned tense. She started to doubt that this was even a good idea._

"_Well I'll go see Strauss tomorrow and tell her you're not going." It was disgusting the way he said it, like he was doing her a favour. _

"_I can handle Strauss myself." She retorted. "And like I said, it's not something I could refuse. It's non-negotiable." Why couldn't he get that through his thick skull? _

*~*

Hotch hadn't meant to act how he did. Strauss infuriated him and he hated seeing the way she was manipulating Emily. Or that fact that Emily couldn't see it herself. He knew she hated being a pawn, and that's exactly how Strauss saw and used her. If he could do things differently he probably wouldn't have said what he said next.

"_It's not like Strauss is not really going to do anything to you if you refuse." He would bet his left hand on that. Well maybe not his left hand, maybe a finger. _

"_I don't like playing with my career. I'm going." She folded her arms and glared back at him. She could be so damn stubborn sometimes. _

"_That isn't a good idea, Prentiss." Why had he said Prentiss? It slipped out, out of habit. A bad slip. _

"_Fine. You go to Strauss and play with your career. I'm not going to take that chance." She stood up and threw her napkin on the table. "Thank you for the dinner." She looked like she was going to say more, but held it back. _

_She left him there, and he didn't follow._

He said goodnight to Jessica, and headed to bed. He just wanted to stop thinking and feeling that he had let something really good out of his grasp.

*~*

Emily spent the weekend filling out forms Strauss had sent her, hotel arrangements and expense accounts. And she had spent most of Saturday on the phone with the lead agent from the Miami department, a Galeno Consuelos who spoke better Spanish then English. She found herself sporadically starring at her cellphone, waiting for it to ring, instead of paying attention to what he was saying.

Was she really expecting Hotch to call after what happened? _Seriously Emily_, she chided herself. Perhaps it was very handy she was going to leave for Miami soon. A month should give her the chance to put this mess behind her. At least they hadn't cemented anything. They could probably go back to being friends in time. She sighed and tossed her cellphone aside. Only to retrieve it five minutes later, just in case.

*~*

She arrived early to the BAU Monday morning, giving herself time to get herself together before she told the team she was going to be away for a month. They should understand, even if Hotch didn't. Today was her last day, her plane leaving for Miami tonight. She waited nervously for everyone to arrive. Hotch was predictably already in his office. She debated going in, telling him goodbye, but then _he_ was the one who had pissed her off. He should come to her.

_But he is still your boss_, she reminded herself. And she did not want to leave with bad tension between them, even though he was acting a bit like a prick. Why could he just not get that she was good at her job, and she was only trying to help? He should know she would never want to leave the BAU. It was home.

She had emailed JJ and Garcia the night before, giving them a heads-up. They had been supportive and understanding as always, which strengthened her resolve to do the right thing and look forward to Miami.

Morgan and Reid were arriving.

"Hey." She greeted. Morgan nodded, going to grab coffee, and Reid said hello back.

"What's up?" Morgan asked, catching her pensive looks. She was waiting and judging for the right time.

"Strauss is sending me to Miami." She told them.

"When?" Morgan asked, stunned.

"Tonight." She said evenly, her gaze never wandering. Morgan contemplated her. If anyone besides Hotch was going to give her any backlash, Morgan was it. "It's only for a month, and really how could I say no?" She demanded, emphasising the last part.

"Hey now, I didn't say anything." Morgan defended, taken aback.

"Sorry, I'm just getting a lot of heat for it." She gestured up towards Hotch's office. Morgan rolled his eyes.

"Em, we've all been there. Hell, I was undercover for 18 months. Do you think I had a choice?" He said. Emily relaxed, and smiled. Well, the worst was over, she thought. At least the team hadn't begrudged her, like Hotch had. Hotch just had his head up his ass.

Feeling better about herself, she marched into the morning briefing ready to take whatever Hotch planned to throw at her.

They gathered around the table as Hotch, Rossi and JJ entered. Hotch hardly glanced at her. Which shouldn't bother her since she was not longer interested, but on some level it did. She wanted to watch his reactions, but forces herself to pay attention to the case JJ was presenting.

In the end it hadn't mattered if she paid attention. It was wasted energy. She wasn't going on this case.

"Prentiss, you should prepare for your leave." Was all Hotch said to her, walking out the door. It stunned her, but being the better person she was determined not to let it get to her. If Hotch wanted to be cold, fine.

She poked her head into his office before they left for the next case.

"Bye Hotch. See you in a month." She said as sweetly as possible and went back to her desk. He avoided her gaze even as he passed by. Emily simply straightened her back and pushed her feeling aside. Hopefully he would get over himself by the time she got back.

She seriously regretted even getting somewhat involved with him. It had been _such_ a bad idea.

*~*

**Hey guys, sorry this has taking me so long to update. I have no excuse really, just life keeps getting in the way. I am wrapping this up within the next chapter, so please review and let me know what you think!! **


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